The Hardest Thing
by KJS
Summary: Sarah is forced to face a choice between responsibility and following her dreams.


**_The Hardest Thing_**

By KJS

Disclaimer: Labyrinth belongs to Jim Henson and other official-types. It sure isn't   
mine. The story is mine, though.   
------------------------- 

Sarah stared at the pair of mismatched eyes that bore into her soul.   
Eyes that held a contempt, a confidence that she knew hid his vulnerable   
emotions. Longing. Hope. A question was held in them, one she didn't   
wish to answer. With tears in her throat, she turned away. 

"I'll never love you." Her words held an icy undertone she forced into   
her voice to convince him. "Leave me Jareth. I don't need the Labyrinth   
any more, it's not a part of my life now. I don't need you." Looking up   
at him, directly into those crystalline eyes, she repeated herself,   
ignoring the tearing in her heart. "I don't need you. I don't want you." 

The blond figure before her, regal and true, turned away from the girl   
and the shadows hid the pain that was apparent on his face. "So be it. A   
pity, Sarah. Perhaps, someday...." Trailing off, the Goblin King   
abruptly vanished. 

Sarah collapsed on her bed, tears threatening to fall. From her lips   
fell half-whispers, pleads directed at herself and whatever divine   
spirit watched over her. Chaotic thoughts were running through her head.   
Finally she fell asleep, tears trickling out of the corners of her eyes.   
A shaft of moonlight came through her window, falling on the glittering   
diamond engagement ring on her finger. 

**The Previous Day....** 

"So the wedding will be June 17. What do you think Sarah?" Jason's   
enthusiasm made her force a smile onto her face. Truthfully, Sarah   
wanted the wedding to be later than that. Years later, maybe. But she   
knew Jason was the only one that cared for her, the only one that seemed   
to love her, even if she could never have such strong feelings for him.   
Sure, she cared for him, but more like a brother, a friend, a.... puppy.   
She almost giggled at the idea of Jason leaping around after her, with a   
frisbee in his mouth. Yet the seriousness was still there. She was   
getting married. Soon to be Mrs. Sarah Aarowans. 

"Sarah?" She felt a hand touch her. Sarah forced herself to concentrate   
on the present, and the concerned brown eyes staring   
into hers. For an instant, Sarah almost wished they were a pair of hazel   
and blue..... but forced those memories out of her mind. 

"Sorry honey." Sarah tried a weak smile. "You know me." 

Jason frowned a little. "Sarah, sweetheart, you know I've always said   
you should try and stay in reality more. I mean, why stay in fantasies   
all the time when there are things to be done, life to live?" 

Sarah just nodded, used to the sermon. Only once had she tried to   
explain what about fantasy enamored her, even bringing up the Labyrinth,   
but her conservative fiance just got impatient. She didn't want a repeat   
of the experience. "I'll try." 

Jason smiled broadly this time. "That's all I ask. Now why don't you get   
some rest, it's been a long day." 

Grateful for the chance to escape, Sarah took off for her bedroom,   
leaving her parents and fiance to fuss over details. Sitting in her old   
rocking chair, she closed her eyes and cleared her mind. Suddenly she   
felt a tapping on her knee. Opening her eyes, she saw her 9-year-old   
brother Toby looking at her, seeming almost a little embarrassed. 

"Hi." She smiled at him, wondering what he wanted. 

"Um, Sarah..." Toby looked down. "Since your gonna be gone soon with   
him," she noted the slight bit of disgust in his voice as he mentioned   
her fiance, "I was wondering if, you know, you could read to me. From   
the Labyrinth. Like you used to." Seeming shy with the request, he   
appeared ready to bolt from the room. 

Sarah smiled at the request. "I'd love to." 

Toby looked up at her and grinned. "You will?" Without waiting for a   
response, he ran over to her bookshelf and grabbed the battered old red   
book, and handed it to her. "Here, Sarah." 

As he settled down onto the floor, leaning against the bed, she opened   
the book and began to read to him. 

An hour later, she was almost done, but Toby was nearly asleep, as was   
Sarah. With a gentle smile, she set down the book and smiled at her   
brother. "We'll finish later. We're both exhausted." 

Toby just nodded and slowly made his way out of the room. As he left,   
Sarah leaned back to think. Maybe Jason was right. Maybe she should give   
up dreaming about the Labyrinth. She hadn't spoken to Hoggle and the   
others for years, and occasionally she doubted they ever really existed   
at all, except in her mind. And Jason... he did love her as much as he   
could. And she cared for him. Just as she cared for her jobs as waitress   
and actress. And the few friends she had. Maybe it was time to give up   
the world she had created and pay more attention to the present. For   
Jason, her job, her life. 

"Sarah." That voice. From before. Looking up, she saw a familiar but   
ugly face of a dwarf in her mirror. 

"Hoggle..." she breathed. "Why are you talking to me?" 

"You called for us." Sir Didymus joined her old friend. "We heard your   
heart's need and responded." 

This received a bitter laugh from Sarah. "Oh really? Where were you when   
Diana died? Or when I doubted everything? When I wanted to die," her   
voice rose, "because nothing was real?! Where were you when I needed   
you? Now it would be easier if you went away!" 

Hoggle looked hurt. Ludo moaned softly, looking downcast. 

"If you really feel that way..." Hoggle hesitated. 

Sarah felt like screaming. "Yes!" Her voice shook. "I do! I need to let   
you go, everything," she made a huge sweep of her arms, "and I mean   
everything, is changing, is telling me to forget you!" Her voice   
softened. "Look... I love you guys. But I can't do this. I can't stand   
having to deal with this world and having you guys haunt me." She looked   
directly at them. "I need to grow up." 

Hoggle nodded, seeming to understand. Sir Didymus just looked upset.   
"Then, milady... someday, perhaps..." 

With that, the trio vanished, leaving Sarah alone. Solitary in her   
misery. But that didn't last for more than a minute when another voice   
pierced the silence. 

"Can you forget me?" A whisper that seemed like it was a pleading echo   
from some distant memory. A voice she would never forget, and had longed   
for. 

"Jareth." The word left her lips, as if a question or a prayer. 

"My beautiful Sarah." She whirled to face the king as a hand was laid on   
her shoulder. A regal face, almost like a mask hiding something more   
vulnerable. "I am here to help you." 

"How?" She narrowed her eyes, confused by the sense of urgency the   
goblin king had. 

"Why, to solve your problems." He flashed her a charming smile. "Come   
with me to the Labyrinth. Live there with me." 

"What?" She felt a sense of both distaste and excitement, old feelings   
bubbling up to the surface, entwined with old memories. "Why Jareth? Why   
me?" 

Jareth paused, as if weighing choices. Finally he let out a resigned   
sigh, and looked at a wall, studying it as he spoke. "I never had anyone   
beat my Labyrinth. You fascinated me, Sarah. A creature who had   
intelligence and resource rivalling my own. But you were a child." His   
gaze dropped to the floor, then flickered to her asking eyes. "Now, you   
are an adult. And over time, as I watched you mature, I became...   
enamored with you. Confused by you, yet wishing for your company." He   
smirked, but it was half-hearted. "I... think I grew to love you, Sarah.   
The one thing I could never truly understand. The one thing I knew was   
able to equal me, to understand me. You mean so much to me Sarah...." He   
held a crystal out to her. "I could give you your dreams. Your friends,   
the Labyrinth, realms that only can imagine... all of them are here for   
you. Please Sarah, come with me. Let me make you a queen. Let me know   
you, and try to open myself so you can know me." Jareth's gaze met hers.   
"I've been so lonely Sarah, and I think you could change that. Change   
me. Sarah, please." 

Shocked by this proposal, this revelation about the Goblin King, she   
found herself sitting on her bed, ready to fall over. She shook her   
head, which was in turmoil. "I don't know.... please.... I just don't   
know...." 

Jareth nodded, solemn. "Fine. I shall return tomorrow to request an   
answer." 

With that, he was gone in a storm of glitter. Sarah just stared at the   
wall. To go with him... be with her friends.... she thought of his   
beautiful eyes, the sincerity in them, the emotions just below the   
surface. She could go off, live in the dreams and realms of mystery....   
with her heart soaring upon the prospect, she smiled. It would be so   
easy. And to love him.... Sarah already felt a connection to him,   
infatuated herself... and knew she could so easily fall in love with   
Jareth, love like a blossom ready to open. She hugged herself, a dream   
on her fingertips... and yet.... 

Her thoughts were interrupted by a light knocking on her door. It   
creaked open and a familiar head poked through, dark hair mussed, eyes   
dancing.  

"Hi Sarah-girl," Jason greeted. He walked in, sitting beside her. "How   
are you doing?" He laid his hand upon hers. "I know how hard everything   
has been, I just want you to know.... well, if you keep your head out of   
the clouds, I'm here. You can always talk to me. I cannot wait until our   
wedding, so many details left..." His smile broadened and he kissed her   
on the cheek. "I've also got a ton of work to catch up on, and so I'll   
see you tomorrow?" At her nod and slight smile, he got up and left. 

Sarah stared at the door as he closed it. Falling back on the bed, she   
felt reality crash into her. Jason. He would be crushed if she vanished.   
She cared for him, even if she couldn't love him. And Toby, her   
parents... they would freak out. With a sigh, Sarah began to realize the   
truth. If she went, she'd hurt everyone here. If she stayed... well,   
she'd suffer, but get through. Her friends, Jareth.... they'd be hurt.   
Burying her face in her pillow, Sarah didn't know what to do. She didn't   
owe anything to Jareth. But Jason.... he had taken care of her, watched   
over her, and was a good man. 'He'll be good to me,' she tried to   
convince herself. 'I'll be fine without Jareth, I have been for awhile.'   
She owed Jason for the past two years. She owed her parents for letting   
her stay at home when she had financial trouble. 

Still, she couldn't help feel a hollow, icy void forming in her heart at   
the thought of being away from the Labyrinth and Jareth forever. "I need   
to grow up." Sarah whispered to herself, echoing her earlier words.   
"Time to take responsibility and become more like Everyone Else." Those   
last two words made her shudder, and she felt as if she were suddenly   
years older. Her tentative hand reached down, picking up her copy of   
"The Labyrinth". Clutching it to her chest, she lay down and closed her   
eyes, vowing to sleep and dreading the lies she would tell tomorrow,   
when she'd have to face Jareth with the hardest thing she'd ever have to do. 


End file.
